Pennsylvania earns a D- for its civil forfeiture laws
Standard of Proof
Somewhat higher bar to forfeit: Prosecutors must provide clear and convincing evidence that property is connected to a crime.
Innocent Owner Burden
Stronger protections for the innocent: The government must prove third-party owners knew about criminal activity connected to their property.
Financial Incentive
Large profit incentive: 100% of forfeiture proceeds go to law enforcement.
The letter grade reflects Pennsylvania’s forfeiture laws as of May 7, 2025. When we become aware of relevant reforms, we are updating the standard of proof, innocent owner burden, and financial incentive language above, but we are not updating the letter grade.
Note: Prosecutors need only meet their standard of proof—and owners can only prove their innocence—if owners make it to a judicial hearing. See flow chart.
Recent Reforms
Recommendations
What happens after personal property is seized in Pennsylvania?
Under Pennsylvania law, prosecutors’ and owners’ deadlines leading to a judicial hearing add up to 60 days, but the wait may be longer as deadlines are not specified for obtaining the seizure order, filing the complaint, or the hearing itself. While you wait, the government has your property, but you can try to get it back by requesting a preliminary hearing or filing a petition for hardship.
*At any time, you can file a petition seeking temporary return of your property for hardship.
For research methods and limitations, see “How We Documented Civil Forfeiture Processes From Seizure to Hearing.”
State and Federal Forfeiture Proceeds, 2000–2023
At least $585 million in state and federal forfeiture revenue
| Year | Pennsylvania Forfeiture Revenues | Dept. of Justice Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Treasury Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Unknown | $4,400,314 | $693,000 | $5,093,314 |
| 2001 | Unknown | $3,407,745 | $786,000 | $4,193,745 |
| 2002 | $11,162,259 | $4,573,607 | $587,000 | $16,322,866 |
| 2003 | $14,145,571 | $4,232,797 | $445,000 | $18,823,368 |
| 2004 | $13,493,868 | $5,839,157 | $90,000 | $19,423,025 |
| 2005 | $15,558,676 | $6,251,089 | $710,000 | $22,519,765 |
| 2006 | $18,518,507 | $6,168,214 | $3,238,000 | $27,924,721 |
| 2007 | $15,872,814 | $10,381,304 | $578,000 | $26,832,118 |
| 2008 | $14,817,592 | $8,173,837 | $2,217,000 | $25,208,429 |
| 2009 | $19,642,023 | $10,497,768 | $214,000 | $30,353,791 |
| 2010 | $15,944,081 | $9,137,963 | $3,803,000 | $28,885,044 |
| 2011 | $16,115,542 | $8,785,318 | $699,000 | $25,599,860 |
| 2012 | $17,077,226 | $10,890,217 | $1,138,000 | $29,105,443 |
| 2013 | $17,505,178 | $13,438,173 | $485,000 | $31,428,351 |
| 2014 | $20,659,627 | $10,079,052 | $1,494,000 | $32,232,679 |
| 2015 | $18,338,856 | $7,815,498 | $3,441,000 | $29,595,354 |
| 2016 | $16,986,335 | $10,272,762 | $526,000 | $27,785,097 |
| 2017 | $17,043,888 | $5,147,702 | $1,371,000 | $23,562,590 |
| 2018 | $16,500,964 | $6,358,805 | $1,456,000 | $24,315,769 |
| 2019 | $16,704,697 | $8,134,293 | $1,739,000 | $26,577,990 |
| 2020 | $19,340,056 | $5,997,287 | $2,419,000 | $27,756,343 |
| 2021 | $13,704,639 | $3,853,585 | $1,063,000 | $18,621,224 |
| 2022 | $17,286,467 | $10,005,715 | $4,633,000 | $31,925,182 |
| 2023 | $15,239,997 | $14,545,151 | $1,173,000 | $30,958,148 |
| Totals | $361,658,863 | $188,387,353 | $34,998,000 | $585,044,216 |
All revenue figures include both civil and criminal forfeitures. Revenues are not adjusted for inflation.
Federal Equitable Sharing
Since July 2017, Pennsylvania has banned one kind of equitable sharing—adoptions. IJ’s analysis (see “Evaluating Efforts to Reform Equitable Sharing”) found that, relative to non-reform states, the number of shared assets increased immediately after the reform. However, there was no effect in the long run. From 2018 to 2023, Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies generated more than $61 million in equitable sharing proceeds. And on average from 2019 to 2023, 167 Pennsylvania agencies, or an estimated 18% of all law enforcement agencies in the state, were certified for the program.
Forfeitures Under Pennsylvania Law: Key Facts
Median Value
$675
From 2019 to 2023, half of Pennsylvania’s currency forfeitures were less than $675.
Property Types
From 2019 to 2023, more than two-thirds of Pennsylvania’s forfeitures were of currency.
Proceeding Types
UNKNOWN
Pennsylvania does not report whether forfeitures are processed under civil or criminal forfeiture law.
Convictions
From 2019 to 2023, nearly one-third of Pennsylvania’s forfeitures occurred without a reported criminal conviction.
Forfeiture Transparency and Accountability Report Card
Tracking Seized Property
CStatewide Forfeiture Reports
APenalties for Failure to File a Report
DAccounting for Forfeiture Fund Spending
BAccessibility of Forfeiture Records
BFinancial Audits of Forfeiture Accounts
AFor full transparency and accountability grades, visit ij.org/TransparencyReportCards.
Data Notes
Statewide forfeiture reports with agency-by-agency, property-level data were obtained via public records requests to the state attorney general. Revenues for 2018–2023 represent the value of currency forfeited, and the estimated or sales value of property forfeited, in a fiscal year. Revenues for earlier years do not include the value of property retained or destroyed but otherwise use a similar methodology. Equitable sharing data are from DOJ’s and Treasury’s annual forfeiture reports. Due to differences in reporting and accounting practices, figures may not match aggregate numbers produced by the state or cover the same 12-month period as the federal data. See Appendix C, available online at ij.org/report/policing-for-profit-4/appendix-c-equitable-sharing-methods/, for details of the equitable sharing reform analysis. The number of certified agencies was computed using the approved Equitable Sharing Agreement and Certification requests submitted by police, sheriff, and other local law enforcement agencies. The percentage of certified agencies was computed using that number and the total number of agencies reported in the 2018 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies.
Legal Sources
Standard of proof: Clear and convincing evidence.
42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5805(j)(3); Commonwealth v. Teeter, No. 59 C.D. 2016, 2017 WL 4945275, at *6 n.14 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Oct. 31, 2017); see also Commonwealth v. 1992 Volkswagen Passat, No. 40 C.D. 2016, 2018 WL 341660, at *9 n.8 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Jan. 10, 2018) (Leavitt, J., dissenting).
Innocent owner burden: Government.
42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5805(j)(4).
Financial incentive: 100%.
42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5803(f)–(i).
Process: 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 5801–08 (forfeiture procedure); id. § 5524 (statute of limitations).